Today is the day I am officially a house owner! Chris and I went by the lawyer’s office to pick up the key for our house…

And then of course we dropped in to experience the house for the first time as really, completely ours. I started things off by claiming the fridge with my magnets:

It’s not going to feel totally real until we move in, but I’m still giddy!

P.S. One more day to enter my end of 2009 giveaway!

Originally published at Megan Crewe - another world, not quite ours. You can comment here or there.

Wishing you (a day late for the beginning) a Hanukah filled with celebrations, blessings, and light!

Taking a quick break from packing to thank Sara Crowe for all she does!
Happy Agent Day!

Sara and I last week in Greenwich Village restaurant. Black & white--tres Parisian, no? :)

I woke up early. Too early, I was so excited I couldn't sleep because today was the Books of Wonder 2009 Debutante reading! So, we got ready and headed downtown in a cab to City Bakery where Mitali (intern extraordinaire) and I were going to meet for the first time. City Bakery is a two story, v. hip place with yummy baked goods and friendly staff. We got a couple coffee drinks and a giant apple muffin and headed up to the loft to search for Mitali.

She breezed in a few minutes later carrying bags and looking purposeful. I knew right away it was her! We had to pretty much leave right away for the signing and I bought her some chocolate chip cookies on the way out.
There was a table of bloggers etc. whom she introduced me too. One of them was Sharon Loves Cats who I know from Twitter.

Again, I love meeting people IRL that I only know online. And she looked exactly as I imagined.
Mitali however, was even better than I imagined! Was full of energy and as Laurel said, "Will make an amazing publicist one day." She took her intern job very seriously and was an energetic delight.

On to Books of Wonder!
I met the wonderful owner who seemed to know everyone, and headed into the room to meet the other Debs!
Mitali and me both insisted they pose for pictures (see, we're kindred spirits!) It was so great meeting people I've known online for such a long time in person!


Each author took a turn reading!

Jon Skovron reading Struts & Frets

Sarah Cross reading Dull Boy
Afterwards, Barry Lyga walked in. You know Barry. Of the "I rode in the optional third row of Heidi's Car and lived to tell about it" fame. He looked right at me and said, "What are YOU doing here? This is MY city." Which is Barry for "I'M SO HAPPY YOU CAME TO NEW YORK." :)
Anyway, here we are pimping Jon's book:



Third tries a charm!
We went out to dinner at a place I thought was called Crunch and Munch but apparently wasn't.
Anyway, whatever it was called it was cool and the best part there was a movie filming right down the street start Matt Damon! Before you get all excited, I never actually saw Damon, but I did coerce Sarah Cross and JJ-- to walk down there and SPY with me.
I got this shot:

I know, not as exciting as Jude. But the company was. We had a great time chatting about this and that and then all went out to coffee afterwards (back to City Bakery) I wanted to hang outside and wait for the film crew, but alas, my Merry Band of Companions nix'd that idea and we headed to some cool pub where we took more pictures and I got a signed copy of This Awesome Book:

from my new friend Ryan (remember Jon's friend from the other night? He was the photographer and surprised me with a signed copy. His friends were v. jealous indeed. :))
See?

Told you it was awesome.
Oh, and remember what I said about my late-night cheeseburger craving? Well, this place delivered. VIA dumbwaiter!

NOM NOM

Oh yeah, baby.
Another zany day in NYC. :)

Stay tuned for part 6: Monday: Publishing! (Where I lunch with my agent and meet my editor!)
But that will probably have to wait until THIS Monday, as we're moving this weekend.

As promised, details of my trip to and event in New York! Many thanks to Deva Fagan for sharing her photos!

It was a very short trip — working around my day job, I flew in Saturday night, promptly crashed at my hotel in Newark, and then took the train into Manhattan Sunday morning. Did some Christmas shopping for Chris that I cannot say anything more about as he sometimes reads my blog, grabbed some lunch at Grand Central Station, and then headed over to Books of Wonder for the event.

I was immediately greeted by an immense display of all our books, which nearly made me squee out loud on sight. Then I went around back and saw the looooong table set up for us.

(All of us — Neesha Meminger, Jon Skovron, Michelle Zink, Deva Fagan, Sarah Cross, Kate Messner, Shani Petroff, and me — at the table with our books.)

I’d hung out most of my fellow authors back in May when I came down for BEA, but I was excited to meet Deva and Kate for the first time:

I was especially happy to get to talk to Deva in person as we’ve been friends and critique partners online for at least six years now, we figure. Hopefully it won’t be that long until we see each other again!

We started off by each reading a short section from our books:

And took several excellent questions from the audience. Then things got less formal as people started coming over to the table to get their books signed and chat with us. *waves to everyone who stopped by*

Afterward, a bunch of us went out for an early dinner with some family and friends included, and then I had to hop on a bus back to Toronto. Wish I could have stayed longer! I’ll do my best to make it back to the US sometime next year.

Originally published at Megan Crewe - another world, not quite ours. You can comment here or there.

I know you're going to skim down the post to see Jude. Feel free. But then come back up and read the rest. :)
So after shopping and a quick Jamba Juice (we didn't refuel much in NYC--too much fun) we went back up to The Purple Room and got ready to meet jonnyskov for dinner.*

*ASIDE: I've know Jon for a couple years online in various writerly groups and via email. We've swapped fantasy manuscripts and are good friends. However, we have never met In Real Life.

So Jon buzzed me (okay, fine, it was a text) and Laurel and I zipped down the elevator to meet him. We were all excited and bouncy because when you know someone online they are sort of like mind-characters that pop into real people when you meet them IRL and it is just SO SO cool. What I've found--especially after my Gothic Girl Retreat in Savannah--that my writer friends are even MORE awesome then I thought they would be. Such was the case with Mr. Skovron.

A former NYC man, he knew where to go and took us to this place called Vinyl in Hell's Kitchen.
http://www.vynl-nyc.com/ that had record covers for menus!


Jon & Linda

Heidi & Blondie

Jon invited his friend Ryan to meet us for dinner too. I suspected he invited a wingman in case we turned out to be psychos. Little did he know we were indeed psychos, but LIKABLE psychos.

This is Ryan. He is straight out of an indie film. He is a commercial photographer who spent two weeks in Vermont photographing a woman's lamp shades. He spoke of it ironically. Obviously, we loved him instantly.
The conversation was hilarious. The company electric.
Then it started to snow!

Can you see the snow behind the wreath?

After dinner, we stumbled out into the snowflakes and headed toward Broadway to see Hamlet starring Jude Law. YES. I know. Could this night get any better? Just wait.
Jon and I lagged behind as he pointed out various joints he used to hang out in when he lived in the city as theatre person. We parted ways with Ryan promising to meet up with him later at a bar. (Apparently in NYC the night begins around 11 p.m.)
The three of us made it to the theatre right on time.
The play was amazing.
Jude's performance was incredibly physical. He had a gesture for pretty much every line, and the staging was gorgeous. They used lighting for the scene changes instead of changing the set around, and our seats were great. Lower mezzanine with an excellent view. Of Jude. :)
It was incredibly hard not to whisper during the 3 hour show, so some fidgeting ensued.
We gave Jude a much deserved standing ovation and headed outside to a MOB SCENE.
I remembered that Mitali Dave (intern extraordinaire and fellow Jude-as-Hamlet fan) told us we could hang out outside and wait for his autograph. But I hadn't expected this. NYPD shone flashlights into cars getting them to move on down the road. Fans were going nuts flashing their cameras and holding out their playbills for Mr. Law to sign.

Jude! Jude! Jude!

We were way far back, because we hadn't come straight out of the theatre so I thought there was NO way I'd be able to get an autograph. I stood up on a rail and held my camera up to take some pictures and we sort of stood around chatting. Then I was like, "I'm going in!" and elbowed my way toward the barriers with my program.
Jude went from one side to the other, and when he was on my side again I said, "Jude, please!" in my sweetest voice ever and he looked up at me and SMILED. True story. Right at me. Yes, my hands just started sweating retelling it. He grabbed my playbill and scribbled his name on it.
He is so so HOT.

Jude Law signing my Hamlet Playbill. Photo by Laurel, fellow elbower.

Very jealous that he didn't one signed, Jon tried to lick my playbill. Is that a mint on his tongue or a ring?

THEN, Jude gets into this giant SUV and it starts cruising down the road.
What to do?
Well, walk along with it of course and wave to Jude. What else would we* do?
*This was all me. By this time Jon and Laurel thought I was a lunatic

So eventually, my heart stopped racing and we headed to this bar via "the shuttle" as Jon referred to the subway to get me on it. It turned out to be fine. We were only mugged three times instead of the four I was expecting. ;)
We didn't get to the bar place until 11:30 or the kitchen was closed.
Sadness. I was suddenly starving because I was talking all through dinner and hardly ate.
So Laurel and one of Jon's friends Chris (an aquarium designer) went and got us McD's cheeseburgers around the corner. Then we played this game called Shaky (I think?) this guy is the king of shaky. He is also a clown. Seriously, that's his job. How cool is that!

Shaky

Laurel and I loved Jonny's friends. They were so welcoming and cool. We ended up closing down the place. Thank god I was on Cali time so it was only midnight or so. Man, NYC is seriously the city that does not sleep.

Laurel attempting shaky. Me laughing.
There was a lot of laughing.

Finally, we bid each other farewell on the corner. Four of us got into a cab and headed back toward Times Square, me with my evening's prize...

Signed Hamlet Playbill

...dizzy and grateful for new friends and fresh possibilities awaiting us around the every corner.

Stay tuned for Sunday: Books of Wonder signing, Barry Lyga joins the crew and more shenanigans!

Saturday! Weather? RAIN. SLEET. SNOW. What to do?

Why a carriage ride in Central Park of course!



The horse behind us playing peekaboo.


The Plaza slick with rain


Majestic St. Patrick's Cathedral.


Lighting a candle for my Grammy


This 9/11 tribute plaque stopped me in my tracks. I hope you can read it. "Grief is the price we pay for love." --Queen Elizabeth II is the quote. Beautiful, sad, and true.


Pouring so hard on the way back to meet Jonny Skov and co. for dinner that we had to duck into this gigantic GAP. The blasting music and holiday colors shoved us right into the dressing room where we, well, tried on a bunch of clothes and proceeded to buy them. This is me being artsy. ;)

I told Laurel, if we had to go home now I would have had a fabulous trip.
Little did I know, our fun had just begun!

Stay tuned for Saturday night. :)

Friday Night: Just like courtneywrites predicted there was a long line of cabs waiting for me at JFK. Since I have mad street skillz I ignored the plain-clothed car drivers who were calling me over.
Got in the legit yellow taxi. Alternately texting jonnyskov and Laurel who were traveling on two separate no-internet busses from DC area toward The Best City in the Whole World about our plans and Courtney (a NY'er in LA for the weekend) the cab driver chatted with me the whole way. He suggested I have four kids instead of two. I said, "How many do you have?" He's like, "One." I'm like, "Dude. Try and convince me once you've caught up."
He was also the first cab driver to score a Sea bookmark. But sadly not the last. ;)

So our purple, retro, fish-tank in bar hotel was righteous. I'd tell you its secret location, but I don't want word to leak out. Proof below:


George Washington/Beethoven bust lamp, retro JFK art, and moi. Blue cowboy boots asked to sit on the left of GW, and yes, I'm wearing my *perfect* winter coat (both weather-proof and warm.)

That's me and Laurel Pilar my #1 entourage gal going on 15 years now. And yes, that's a purple couch.

Like good tourists we headed straight for Times Square.

Goal: Finding Food. Heading on to restaurant row in the crisp holiday air, we were lured into one of the first joints we saw.

Awesome old Italian guy: Ladies, ladies, come! This has the Best Italian food in ALL of New York!
Me: Really? Is it really the best Italian food in ALL of New York?
A.O.I.G.: Of course!

I was convinced. (I'm easily convinced by phrases like The Best _______ Ever)
Snarfing down "the best gnocci in ALL of New York (it was good), I got a bit wiggly and elbowed an entire basket of bread onto the floor (not so good). They forgave me, fortunately. As we thanked the owner on the way out he pulled me into a grizzly hug---the kind of thing that would have been disturbing if any other stranger would have done it, but with him it was perfectly suiting.
(I'd give you its secret location, but you'll know it when you see it.)

Off we went to Rock center and the Christmas Tree. You've all seen it. Big. Green. Bright lights? That's the one.
We were swept up in the NYC scene. Singing NYPD guy. Dozen drunk Santa's. Children bundled up in mittens and floppy-ear hats. Blasting Christmas music, spinning ice skaters, flecks of snow beginning to fall. (Okay, the last bit didn't happen. YET.)
Next, we hoofed it to NBC studios where we talked to the most awesome security guard EVER who suggested, if we wanted to get tix to the SNL taping that we, "Hang out at de bar all night and get in da line in the mornin'."
Joked around with him for about 20 minutes reveling in the outgoing NYC holiday revery. A group of kids in sleeping bags were already waiting outside in line--planning on spending the night outside to get tickets. It was tempting and I probably could have been convinced but we both innately knew we must get some sleep.
Somehow predicting the next "day" would be about 36 hours of pure, unadulterated NYC magic.

I'm writing this on the plane listening to ColdPlay on my headphones. Virgin American is pretty much the Best Airline and The Scientist pretty much The Best I'm-So-Sad-to-Leave-NYC- Song Ever.

Does the cabin look like Space Mountain or what?

Stay tuned for part 3 where we have writers! carriage rides! candle lighting! Blondie records! and yes, Jude-freaking-Law.

1. If you weren’t able to make it to the NYC Books of Wonder event on Sunday, never fear — you can still get a signed copy of GIVE UP THE GHOST! Just stop by the store and pick one up. Sorry to have missed those of you who couldn’t make it. We had a ton of fun! You can see a few pics over at Kate Messner’s blog — hope to have more to share soon.

2. My author spotlight is now up at Author’s Now! and you can win a signed copy of GHOST just by commenting!

3. My end of 2009 giveaway is accepting entries for another week, so if you’d like to win a pack of great books or a 3-chapter critique, check it out!

4. Our new house is officially ours in less than a week! I’ve gotten everything sorted out (I think) and can’t wait to move in come January.

5. I’ve been given permission to share — GHOST has gone into 2nd printing! Many many thanks to everyone who’s picked it up, blogged about it, or otherwise spread the word. I’m so grateful to all of you.

What’s new with all of you?

Originally published at Megan Crewe - another world, not quite ours. You can comment here or there.

No time for a Five today, because I’ve got to pack for my trip to New York tomorrow! In case you haven’t heard, me and seven other amazing Debs will be appearing at Books of Wonder on Sunday:

Click here for details.

I hope to see many of you there!

Originally published at Megan Crewe - another world, not quite ours. You can comment here or there.

Look up, can you see me?
Yes. Apparently they know have internet in the sky.
And Google has given Virgin American flyers free internet through the holidays! Thanks, Google. :)
So, I thought I'd do a play-by-play account of my trip, because knowing me--and knowing that I'm moving the weekend I get home, I will not have time other than to post the highlights, which I've been asked to do for Crowe's Nest.

So you, my friends, get the DELUXE version, though admittedly, it hasn't been all that excited thus far.
I did get a coat!
It's black and 'weather proof' with faux fur around the color. The husband picked it out for me as his taste if far superior to mine in the classy-coat department. My eyes roamed straight for the knee-length bright orange pea coat that I would wear once.

BUT BUT BUT

I bought blue cowboy boots.
They were my my Big Pre-Trip Splurge and I've been eyeing them for weeks.
Though normally geometrically challenged, I inverted them into a big square in my overstuffed suitcase.

Debbie Duncan--friend extraordinaire--dropped me off at the airport after about 4 hours of sleep.
Currently I'm overcaffeinated, hungry, exhausted and too excited to sleep.
So what to do but spy on other people's strange internetiyng.
The tattooed man across the aisle has been researching motorcycles on Craigslist, then fliipping over to iTunes and downloading songs. I'm highly suspect that he may be making Music Videos of his Favorite Hogs. Which, hey, that's cool

I'm on my second viewing of 500 Days of Summer.*
I love it.
(Obviously*)
You should see it. Possibly twice.
If anyone is wondering what I'd like for Chistmas it is the soundtrack because anything with the Smiths, Springsteen and The Beatles is pretty great. Not to mention the Graduate references and the Han Solo reflection*
(I don't think Harrison Ford made it onto the soundtrack. Remember the four hours of sleep.)

Now the plane is getting extremely bumpy. Whoa. So I best go.
If you've read my book, you'll know why.

Have a great Friday, everyone! Forgive typos and misspellings and know I was thinking of you Up in the AIr. :)

Lots of action in the Nest!

My fellow Crowe's Nester, Varian Johnson, penned this illuminating post discussing the sex scene(s) and the importance of (not for the reasons you're thinking) in one of my all-time favorite YA novels, "Looking for Alaska."
I've heard this discussed at length and drew my own conclusions while reading, but I like the examples he points out.
Warning: if you haven't read, the excerpts contain spoilers (and some sexual language and content for the younger set.)

http://acrowesnest.blogspot.com/2009/12/reading-like-writer-looking-for-alaska.html

While you're visiting the Crowe's Nest, remember to congratulate my fellow nester Nina LaCour (and Sara Crowe) for her beautiful hold still and its Morris Award Finalist honor.

I haven't had the pleasure of reading yet, but heard it's lovely, lyrical and thoughtful.
I love it when books like that are honored.

Even more to celebrate this weekend in NYC.
Gotta finish packing!

February 14, 1996 (Megan is 15)

Well, gotta call N now and see what she thinks.

Which is basically nothing. She didn’t think it really mattered which in a way kinda ticks me off. I mean, she talks about X twice as long and I don’t say, well, I don’t think whatever really matters. I might say I don’t think it means something (in regards to whether he likes her or not), but saying it doesn’t matter is like saying it doesn’t matter to her. And it wasn’t like she was saying it so I shouldn’t let it bother me. She said it like she wanted to get on to some other topic. Don’t get any ideas neither — I’d only discussed it with her for about 5 minutes or maybe ten. It just annoys me. She never seems to care about my confusion over B but she expects me to explain everything about X to her and to listen to countless pointless stories about him…

Maybe I’m ignoring things I’ve done and forgotten but it seems like when I don’t want to do something for her, she’s all self-righteous like “I would do it for you” but when she actually has to do something for me she doesn’t want to.

I’m probably totally misinterpreting this, but oh well.

–

An Introduction to Flashbacks
The Flashback Cast
The Flashback Timeline

Originally published at Megan Crewe - another world, not quite ours. You can comment here or there.

I'm not blogging. Promise. Just posting a little congrats to my friend, lkmadigan . Her wonderful, funny, poignant, fresh, older YA novel FLASH BURNOUT is a finalist for the William C Morris YA Debut Book Award (dear non-bookish readers: it's a very big deal)



That cover will look so pretty with a new shiny sticker on it

Congrats, of course, to all the finalists. Winner will be announced at ALA in Jan. Woo Hoo!!!!

I'm on readergirlz (web site readergirlz and readergirlz blog) all month, answering questions and appearing on a live chat on December 16. You might want to stop by and, while you're there, check out the other writers, books, and discussions covered by readergirlz. I've been there before, and it's a fun place!

::cough:: edited to add:
I fixed the first link.
::blush::

http://www.ala.org/ala/mgrps/divs/yalsa/booklistsawards/morris/morrisaward.cfm#2010finalists
Congratulations!
PS. I told you Flash Burnout was awesome. ;)

Here's L.K. Madigan's adorable reaction to the nomination: http://lkmadigan.livejournal.com/160065.html

I'm so excited for Malinda Lo, Kami Garcia, Margaret Stohl and the other finalists.
All such beautiful books.
What a dream come true for a debut novelist.

Seriously, every time I sit down to blog, all I come up with is BABY BABY (sometimes Princess) BABY.
It's too bad I didn't write this book...
(seriously, it's too bad. This book rocks)

I realize some people don't want to hear the particulars of the final weeks of pregnancy, so I'm going to bounce from the blog until baby is here. I will, however, do what I did last week and post some old entries this month. I'm also going to do a giveaway for my FINAL PRINCESS FOR HIRE ARC come Jan, so stay tuned. Finally, I just did a post on the tenners if you want to check it out

So I'm going to NYC on Friday.
Excited is an understatement.
How cold is cold though?
Pea coat cold--or full-body-length-down-feathers cold?
I don't want to look like a 9-year-old snow bunny.
I have a fondness for pink hats with cotton braids, no judging. ;)

The thing is, I used to live in NY so it's not like I'm clueless.
I wore black and went to grad school in the village.
But Nor Cal has made me weak.
I fear the elements. Both natural and man-made.
(Subway! Yikes!)

But I shall be brave because I can't wait to meet my editor and my agent and the writer friends from the 2009 Debutantes in real life.

My agent asked me to write a recap of the trip for her Crowe's Nest blog, so stay-tuned. Well, after I move that is. Yes, I'm also moving next week. Plate? Not full. Literally toppling over. But it's all good eats.

I'll be here on Sunday if you want to stop by and say hi and meet some awesome 2009 debut authors!


December 6th
Sunday
1:00 - 3:00pm
2009 Debut Author Event

MICHELLE ZINK - Prophecy of the Sisters
JON SKOVRON - Struts and Frets
MEGAN CREWE - Give Up the Ghost
SARAH CROSS - Dull Boy
SHANI PETROFF - Daddy’s Little Angle: Bedeviled #1
KATE MESSNER - The Brilliant Fall of Gianna Z
NEESHA MEMINGER - Shine Coconut Moon
DEVA FAGAN - Fortune’s Folly

Off to coat shop! Wish me luck!

To celebrate the end of one awesome year, I’m holding one last giveaway! I know you’re all busy with holiday preparations, so I’m keeping it simple.

Prize #1: Three books of magic and the arts. I love fantasy, and I love creativity in all its forms, so I’d like to share with you three books that include both.

Fortune’s Folly by Deva Fagan, which combines fairy tale motifs with themes of storyteling, and fashion!

Wondrous Strange by Lesley Livingston, revealing a magical side of Central Park and a young woman’s love for theater.

Lament by Maggie Stiefvater, full of faeries and music and difficult choices.

Prize #2: A three-chapter critique of a novel manuscript. Best for young adult speculative fiction (fantasy, paranormal, science fiction), but I’m happy to offer my thoughts on adult, MG, and other genres, as long as you accept those aren’t my areas of expertise.

How to enter:

1) Post the Give Up the Ghost book trailer and a link to this giveaway on your blog/Facebook account/Myspace page/website/etc. Just needs to be public so I can confirm it’s there. If you’ve posted the trailer in the past, all you need to post is a link to the giveaway.

(Visit the YouTube page to get the embed code.)

2) Comment here with a link to the place you posted the trailer (now or previously) and the link, and let me know which of the two prizes you’d like to win! You can enter to win both if you post the trailer and link two different places.

And that’s all there is to it!

Entries must be received by Tuesday, December 15th at midnight EST. Giveaway open to anyone in the world.

Originally published at Megan Crewe - another world, not quite ours. You can comment here or there.